Friday, January 28, 2011

We had a snow storm the day before yesterday. It started to snow lightly around 4 PM and became heavier as the day closed to the night. There were weather alerts everywhere and people were advised to be back home as soon as possible. B, my husband, called me around 4.30 PM to let me know that is he is leaving office. I was more than happy to know that the man will be home within 40 mins and thought we both could spend this beautiful white evening together. I wanted us to have a nice hot cup of tea and sit by the balcony windows and snow-gaze the whole evening. So I waited and waited and waited for the him to be back. It became 6 PM. And I waited for some more time. It was 7.30. I could wait no more and dialed his number. It went straight to the voice mail box. Probably his battery was dead. He had left his charger safely home. So I had to wait till he came back. The evening was already turning dark and was leaving way for night to settle in. And the snowfall became intense and the parking lot had already accumulated 3 inches of snow. The clock ticked 9. And B is still not back and that dint seem good to me. I couldn't reach him and it was around 5 hours since I last heard from him. I started to panic and called Archana to know if she is back home at least. She was on the roads for the past 6 hours and not even half-way through. Looked like the whole Northern Virginia working crowd started to head back home from their workplaces at the same time, which caused a huge traffic block in every highway possible. She told me the traffic was terrible. There were cars skidding in the snow glazed roads, accidents every 2 miles, some ran out of fuels and pulled over to the shoulder lanes, and she herself almost bumped twice into the car in front of her. Its seriously crazy to drive in snow. So it seemed like B was also held up in traffic. I cursed the mobile battery so much for dying out when we needed to converse badly. And I was prepared for B to get his share for leaving the charger at home. And then I made dinner and was catching up on some tv shows. It was 11.00 PM and I heard something that sounded like a thunder. I saw a bright blue-green light for a second and boooooommmmm. There was a power cut. So then I realized that we are actually facing the storm. And I looked out of my window and the snow was still pouring down heavily. Archana was still driving and B was definitely going to take more time to get back home. So I decided to hit bed. I heard someone banging my front door. And I checked my mobile and it was 12.47 AM. And opened the door to see poor B all tired and hungry. The man had been driving for more than 8 hours, for a drive which usually takes max 40 mins. We could have actually had a drive to New York and returned back by this time, on a normal day. Whatever it is, I was happy that he returned home safely.

The Snowman we made!!

The snow storm actually left us 'power'less for the next whole day. No power, no internet, and of course no work. All the mobile batteries died off. And tell you what that was definitely a day with no disturbances or distractions whatsoever in any form. And that was good. We went down to enjoy the power outage. Had a good time throwing snow at each other, running around and falling down. Archana and I made this snowman. He is cute, ain't he?

I see these lovely white snow flakes pouring down the sky as I write this post. I just cannot keep my eyes off the window. Such a pretty scene it is. It feels so magical and it always reminds me of fairy tales when I see a snowfall. It is never too boring to see a snow fall right outside your window, even if it is after a huge snow storm which kept you waiting for your loved one to be back!!!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Last week, thursday to be precise, I was getting ready for my Yoga class and was waiting for Archana (my friend & neighbor) to call me. We usually go together. She was a little late from work that day and it was already 7.25 PM by the time we started. Our class commences at 7.30 and it usually takes us 12 to 15 mins to reach the fitness club. I got a little worried that we were late for the class and started to drive in that mindset. And this made me miss the right turn that I had to take to the club. So I continued to drive and took the next right assuming this will join the road to the club. And Archana was already panicking as we entered that road and that got me to panic too. Let me tell you why. The road that we were driving on was in the middle of a huge graveyard. Turn anywhere and all we could see were graves and headstones. And the place was so dark and dull. Their were no streetlights and we couldn't spot a single living being on that road. Some graves had blinking LED lights on them and that was super creepy. So we took another turn from that road hoping to get off that place as quickly as possible, but in vain. We came back to the same road and that was more scary. And Archana started to blabber more in fear. She even said, 'Should we turn back and see if someone's there in the backseat?'. Guess what, I actually checked my rear view mirror, (by this time we joined back to the main road) and the lights from cars behind created an illusion as if someone just vanished off the back seat. Baahhhhh. That was one helluva ride and we were so relieved when we got rid of the spooky graves. And then we finally made it to the yoga class by 7.45. Missed our warm ups by then. But still, it was totally worth it. Archana and I badly needed this session to calm ourselves down!! :)

That was a freaky Friday.. uhhmmm.. I mean Thursday !! :)

So...Have you guys taken any wrong turns?? Scary drives?? Got lost in the middle of nowhere?? Share your story.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Last month when I was in Tampa, I had been to the Curtis Hixon park in Downtown on a Saturday evening with some friends. It was a nice park alongside the Hillsborough river with comfortable lounge chairs, picnic tables, neat pavements and well manicured greens. And the jumping fountain adds to the beauty of the park. A good place for a nice get together. Hold on. Now this post is not about the park. While we were in the park, we saw something else happen.

A bunch of bridesmaids beautifully dressed in maroon gowns and their men in neat suits were happily walking in the park's pavement with a champagne glass in everyone's hand. And then came the pretty bride in her special white wedding dress with her fiance in his crisp black suit. We waved at the couple and they waved happily back at us. Ahhh. They both were so perfect and the whole wedding party seemed very cool and casual, it suddenly created a festive mood there. They were heading towards the amphitheater near the park (where the actual wedding took place). And in less than 15 minutes they were heading back to where they came from. There was a nice black limo waiting for the newly wedded couple. And the couple rushed into the limo while the rest of the party waved and cheered them and then they were gone happily. This wedding that just happened before us was one of a kind for me and everything was over in less than thirty minutes. And there were only the wedding couple, the bridesmaids and their men. That is it. A total of 14 people and a photographer. Aint that cool ?? !! :)

Saves so much time and confusion preparing the list of guests, invitation, venue, food, this, that, foo, fah!!!

Have you witnessed any such cool or 'out-of-the-ordinary' weddings ?? Would love to hear about it!!!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Have you ever wondered how time flies these days?? It seemed like the week just started and look the weekend is here so quick. Why is that?? We are so packed the whole week that we don't realize the days moving by. There are also those days where we wish we just skip the new few days and fast forward to move on. This happens when we encounter things which we don't want to handle. There are some other days when we are just stuck with something without a solution. We are already stuck with the situation and now we cant escape without a solution but we wont know how to respond to things. This they call 'STRESS'. I have encountered this 'n' number of times in my life. For instance, when it is just few hours to enter the exam hall and I have one whole unit to study, a very strict deadline at work and stuff like this. Sometime when I am stressed out I mess up things in a relationship (be it with parents or friends or spouse). Not that I'm stressed out now. It was just a random thought that came up with and I wanted to discuss it with you guys. Different people handle stress differently. In there own ways.

Stress doesn't get better by itself. We'll have to find a way to get out of it. I generally take a time out when it is related to work. And playing 'bejeweled' always relaxes me and calms me down. And then I come back fresh to solve my issues. Sometimes some music i love to hear anytime will do the trick. Sometimes I just dont think of the time line in front of me and take my time to think of a solution and it works like a charm. When I come out of it, I try not to get myself stuck at the situation again, by planning things better and ahead of time. Not that I'm perfect at it the next time, but it does really help.

So I wanted to know how do you guys handle stress, if at all you are stressed out.